Centric butterfly valve

ABSTRACT

A centric butterfly valve (1) in which top and bottom boss surfaces (19, 29) are formed to be spherical, an outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk (24) is formed to be an M-shaped section part (29) with round-shaped apex parts (27) and a round-shaped valley part (28) smoothly linked, and the centric butterfly valve has a valve disk (3) having an extended part (41) obtained by successively and slightly extending the spherical surface of each of the top and bottom boss surfaces (19, 20) to a blade portion (40) side.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to centric butterfly valves and, inparticular, to a centric butterfly valve in which an M-shaped-sectionouter peripheral seal part is provided at an outer peripheral end of theblade portion of the valve disk to improve sealability around the valvedisk and around stems and reduce open/close operation torque.

2. Background Art

In general, butterfly valves have a simple structure and are of smallsizes and lightweight, and have both of a merit in structure in which asurface-to-surface dimension can be decreased compared with other valvetypes and a merit in function in which valve open/close operations canbe performed in an operation range of 90 degrees and thus the butterflyvalves are suitable for automated operation and they are excellent inflow rate control. Thus, the butterfly valves are widely used in variousscenes, such as water supply and drainage, air-conditioning facilities,and factor processes, in various modes.

The butterfly valve is configured to include a body inside which a flowpath is formed, a stem supported by the body, and a valve disk arrangedin the flow path of the body and fixedly attached to the stem so as torotate together with the stem, in which the valve disk is rotated insidethe body by using the stem to cause an outer peripheral part of thevalve disk to be pressure-contacted to or be separated from the innerperipheral surface of the flow path, thereby opening and closing thevalve.

Thus, in this butterfly valve, it is important to ensure sealabilitybetween the valve disk and the inner peripheral surface of the flow pathformed inside the body and around the stem to prevent leakage of a fluidand suppress operation torque at the time of valve opening and closingto improve operability.

As a centric butterfly valve for improving sealability at the time ofvalve closing and reducing operation torque at the time of valve openingand closing, for example, a centric butterfly valve is disclosed in PTL1 in which the valve disk is covered with an elastic seal member beingfixed thereto, and an annular protrusion is formed on a boss surface anda circumferential protrusion is formed on an outer peripheral end of theblade portion of the valve disk, respectively, with the annularprotrusion and the circumferential protrusion being made successive in astate without a step.

In this centric butterfly valve, the circumferential protrusion and theannular protrusion are coupled in a state without a step. Thus, a leakof a fluid from around the stem is prevented to allow sealability to beexerted. Also, since the annular protrusion and the circumferentialprotrusion are provided to have an arc-shaped section. Thus, crushmargins of the annular protrusion and the circumferential protrusion atthe time of valve closing are small and are easily deformed, therebyallowing the open/close operation torque of the valve to be decreased.

CITATION LIST Patent Literatures

-   PTL 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-140675

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1. Technical Problem

However, in the centric butterfly valve disclosed in PTL 1, to reduceopen/close operation torque of the valve, the widths of the annularprotrusion and the circumferential protrusion each having an arc sectionare formed to be smaller than the width of the elastic seal member ofthe blade portion of the valve disk, thereby decreasing the crushmargins of the annular protrusion and the circumferential protrusion atthe time of valve closing. Thus, even if the circumferential protrusionis crushed at the time of valve closing, the surface pressure of theblade portion of the valve disk tends not to be uniform, posing aproblem in sealability.

Moreover, in these annular protrusion and circumferential protrusioneach having a small width and an arc section, when local friction forceoccurs due to a contact with a seal surface of the inner flow path atthe time of valve closing, stress concentrates on these protrusions anda starting point of rupture tends to occur, posing a problem indurability.

The present invention has been developed to solve the above-describedproblem, and has an object of providing a centric butterfly valve whichhas favorable sealability around a valve disk and around stems and smallopen/close operation torque and is also excellent in durability.

2. Solution to the Problem

To achieve the above-described object, the invention according to claim1 is directed to a centric butterfly valve in which a valve disk havingtop and bottom boss surfaces provided upper and lower parts and an outerperipheral seal part provided at an outer peripheral end of a bladeportion of the valve disk is rotatably provided inside acylindrical-type body via stems, the outer peripheral seal part is anM-shaped section part with two linear round-shaped apex parts positionedon a primary side and a secondary side and a round-shaped valley-bottompart positioned between the apex parts smoothly linked, this M-shapedsection part has the two linear apex parts crushed in a fully-closedstate and other portions moved to a direction of a space of thevalley-bottom part to form two linear seal parts by the apex parts, aninner peripheral surface of the body has a seal surface formed of an arcsurface and, when the outer peripheral end of the blade portion of thevalve disk makes contact with the arc surface of the body, thevalley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part becomes in a state ofbeing substantially in contact with the arc surface.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in whichvicinities of two linear apex parts of the M-shaped section part haveroundness dimensions substantially equal to each other, and the valleypart has a roundness dimension in a range on order of ½ to twice aslarge as the roundness dimensions in the vicinities of the apex parts.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in whichthe top and bottom boss surfaces and the apex parts of the M-shapedsection part form part of a spherical surface having a substantiallyequal radius from a center of the valve disk.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in whichthe top and bottom boss surfaces are formed to be spherical, and thecentric butterfly valve has the valve disk provided with an extendedportion obtained by successively and slightly extending this sphericalsurface of each of the top and bottom boss surfaces to a blade portionof the valve disk side.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in whichthe top and bottom boss surfaces and the valley-bottom part of theM-shaped section part of the outer peripheral end of the blade portionof the valve disk of the blade portion of the valve disk are linked bysmooth tilted surfaces.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in whichthe extended part has a shape extending most to the blade portion of thevalve disk side at a position of the apex part of the outer peripheralend of the blade portion of the valve disk and being gradually narrowerin width toward this most extended position.

The invention is also directed to the centric butterfly valve in which adistance of the valley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part from acenter of the valve disk is substantially equal to a distance of aninner peripheral surface of the body from the center of the valve disk.

3. Advantageous Effects of the Invention

The invention, with the outer peripheral seal part provided to the outerperipheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk is formed to be anM-shaped section part, two linear seal parts are linearly formed inparallel at the time of valve closing and, of these, on the linear sealpart positioned on a primary side, the load of the fluid pressureconcentrates, and thereby high seal surface pressure occurs. Thus,favorable sealability can be obtained.

Also, the two linear seal parts linearly formed in parallel are formedover the entire outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valvedisk equidistantly from the center of the valve disk. Thus, uniformsurface pressure can be obtained at the outer peripheral end of theblade portion of the valve disk, and favorable sealability can beobtained.

Furthermore, in accordance with valve opening and closing, the outerperipheral seal part on the outer peripheral end of the blade portion ofthe valve disk is repeatedly pressurized and, in particular, thevicinity of the valley-bottom part of the M-shaped section partrepeatedly receives compressive force. However, since the outerperipheral seal part takes the M-shaped section part with theround-shaped apex parts and the round-shaped valley-bottom part smoothlylinked, the occurrence of stress concentration is suppressed to preventthe occurrence of a starting point of rupture. Thus, durability of theouter peripheral seal part can be improved.

From another aspect of the invention, with the roundness dimensions ofthe apex parts and the valley part of the M-shaped section part of theouter peripheral seal part formed to be in a range so as to be close toeach other, stress occurring in the M-shaped section part at the time ofvalve closing can be effectively dispersed. Thus, the stress occurringin the outer peripheral seal part in a concentrated manner can besuppressed, and durability of the outer peripheral seal part can beimproved.

In this case, with the inner peripheral surface of the body formed as anarc surface, the top and bottom boss surfaces with the apex parts formedas spherical surfaces can be uniformly pressurized, and favorablesealability can be obtained in the top and bottom boss surfaces of thevalve disk.

Also, with the inner peripheral surface of the body formed as an arcsurface, uniform surface pressure can be applied to the outer peripheralend of the blade portion of the valve disk within a range of this arcsurface. Thus, even if the closed position of the valve disk is slightlyshifted, if that shift is within a range where the arc surface isformed, it does not affect sealability and stable sealability can beobtained.

When the outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve diskmakes contact with the arc surface of the body, the valley-bottom partof the M-shaped section part becomes in a state of being substantiallyin contact with the arc surface, and thereby the movement amount of theelastic body of the valley-bottom part can be minimized or brought tozero at the time of valve closing. In addition, the apex partspressurized and crushed by the seal surface can be let escape to thedirection of the valley-bottom part, thereby less affecting otherportions, preventing excessive stress from occurring to the outerperipheral seal part, and allowing suppression of an increase inopen/close operation torque of the valve. Here, the elastic member atthe crushed portions of the apex parts easily moves to the direction ofthe space that is present between the two apex parts of the M-shapedsection part to prevent the surface pressure of the elastic member ofthe M-shaped section part of the outer peripheral seal part fromexcessively increasing, thereby also allowing suppression of an increasein the open/close operation torque.

From another aspect of the invention, the top and bottom boss surfacesand the apex parts of the M-shaped section part of the outer peripheralseal part of provided to the outer peripheral end of the blade portionof the valve disk form part of a spherical surface having asubstantially equal radius from a center of the valve disk. Thus, at thetime of full closing of the valve, the elastic member covering the topand bottom boss surfaces and the outer peripheral seal part of the bladeportion of the valve disk are uniformly crushed. Thus, favorablesealability can be obtained over the entire periphery of the valve disk.

From another aspect of the invention, the top and bottom boss surfacesare formed to be spherical, and the centric butterfly valve has thevalve disk provided with an extended portion obtained by successivelyand slightly extending the spherical surface of each of the top andbottom boss surfaces to a blade portion of the valve disk side. Thus, atthe time of full closing of the valve, by the pressure force from theseal surface of the body, the elastic member covering the top and bottomboss surfaces and the outer peripheral seal part of the blade portion ofthe valve disk are uniformly crushed. Thus, favorable sealability can beobtained over the entire periphery of the valve disk.

Also, with provision of the extended portion obtained by successivelyand slightly extending the spherical surface of each of the top andbottom boss surfaces to the blade portion of the valve disk side, thetop and bottom boss surfaces and the valve disk outer peripheral end aresuccessively linked. At a fully-closed position, the elastic membercovering from the top and bottom boss surfaces to the apex parts of theM-shaped section part of the valve disk outer peripheral end isuniformly crushed. Thus, a portion which leads to leakage or the likehardly occurs and sealability around the stems can be improved.

From another aspect of the invention, the top and bottom boss surfacesand the valley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part of the outerperipheral end part of the blade portion of the valve disk are linked bysmooth tilted surfaces. Thus, the occurrence of stress concentration inthe outer peripheral seal part when the top and bottom boss surfaces arepressurized by the seal surface of the body is suppressed, anddurability of the outer peripheral seal part can be improved.

From another aspect of the invention, the extended part has a shapeextending most to the blade portion of the valve disk side at theposition of the apex part of the outer peripheral end of the bladeportion of the valve disk and being gradually narrower in width towardthis most extended position. Thus, the top and bottom boss surfaces andthe apex parts of the M-shaped section part of the outer peripheral endof the blade portion of the valve disk part can be successively andsmoothly connected. Thus, at the fully-closed position, the elasticmember is uniformly pressurized from the top and bottom boss surfaces tothe apex parts of the M-shaped section part of the valve disk outerperipheral end, stress hardly concentrates on the elastic member, andsealability around the valve disk and around the stems can be improved.

From another aspect of the invention, the distance of the valley-bottompart of the M-shaped section part of the outer peripheral seal part fromthe center of the valve disk is substantially equal to a distance of theinner peripheral surface of the body from the center of the valve disk.Thus, if the valve disk is at the fully-closed position, thevalley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part is hardly pressurized bythe inner peripheral surface of the body, and the movement amount of theelastic member of the valley-bottom part is small. In addition, theportions of the apex parts of the M-shaped section part of the outerperipheral seal part pressurized by the inner peripheral surface of thebody are crushed and can escape to the direction of this valley-bottompart. Thus, influences on the other portions of the outer peripheralseal part are small, and displacement of the elastic member in the outerperipheral seal part as a whole is suppressed. Thus, the open/closeoperation torque of the valve can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view depicting the outer appearance of a centricbutterfly valve in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the centric butterfly valveof FIG. 1 in a flow path direction.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the centric butterfly valveof FIG. 1 in a direction perpendicular to the flow path.

FIG. 4 is an A-A line sectional view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view depicting the outer appearance of a valvedisk of the centric butterfly valve in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front half-sectional view of the valve disk of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the valve disk of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8, (a) is a B-B line sectional view of the valve disk of FIG. 6 and(b) is an enlarged view of (a).

FIG. 9 is a view schematically depicting the magnitude of surfacepressure acting on an outer peripheral seal part from a seal surface ofa body and a displacement direction of an elastic member at afully-closed position of the centric butterfly valve in the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of a part of the centric butterfly valve ofFIG. 2.

In FIG. 11, (a) is an enlarged end face view of a D-D line portion ofthe valve disk of FIG. 7 and (b) is an enlarged end face view of an E-Eline portion of the valve disk of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a valve disk of another embodiment of thecentric butterfly valve in the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a drawing for describing an actuation situation of thecentric butterfly valve in the present invention at the time of valveclosing and an effect of providing an M-shaped section part to an outerperipheral seal part of the valve disk.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the following, one embodiment of the centric butterfly valve in thepresent invention is described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view depicting the outer appearance of a centricbutterfly valve in the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinalsectional view in a flow path direction, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinalsectional view in a direction perpendicular to the flow path.

In FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, a centric butterfly valve (hereinafterreferred to as a valve main body 1) has a cylindrical body 2, a valvedisk 3, and an upper stem 4 and a lower stem 5.

The body 2 is integrally molded of cast iron, for example, ductile ironor the like. As depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, inside the body 2, a flowpath 6 passing through the body 2 is provided. Outside the body 2, anupper stem-insertion barrel 7 having the upper stem 4 insertedtherethrough is provided on an upper side, and a lower stem-insertionbarrel 8 having the lower stem 5 inserted therethrough is provided on alower side. Also, grooves (ditches) 9, 9 are each provided on an outerperipheral part of the body 2 on each of both end parts.

These grooves 9, 9 are provided similarly on plumbing sides, notdepicted, which are connected to the valve main body 1. With the grooveson both sides tightly attached and fixed by a housing, not depicted,across the valve main body 1 and plumbing's connecting parts, therebyallowing connection (groove connection) between the valve main body 1and the plumbing.

Note that while the groove connection scheme is adopted to reduceinstallation time in the present embodiment, the centric butterfly valvein the present invention is not limited to the groove connection schemeand can be applied also to other connection schemes such as a flangeconnection scheme.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view in the direction along the flowpath 6 of the valve main body 1, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectionalview in the direction perpendicular to the flow path 6 of the valve mainbody 1, both drawing depicting a fully-closed state. The valve disk 3 isarranged at the center position of the flow path 6 provided inside thebody 2, above and below which the upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5 areinserted and rotatably provided. The flow path 6 has an inner peripheralsurface 11 that has undergone only coating process or the like but notlining with rubber or the like.

FIG. 4 is an A-A sectional view of FIG. 2, depicting a detailed shape ofthe flow path 6 provided inside the body 2. In FIG. 4, in the vicinityof the center of the inner peripheral surface 11 of the flow path 6, anarc surface 12 taking a center O of the valve disk 3 as a center andhaving a radius R1 is formed over the entire perimeter except portionsinto which the upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5 are inserted,configuring a seal surface 13 on a body 2 side.

In this manner, with the arc surface 12 formed on the inner peripheralsurface 11 of the body 2, as will be described further below, top andbottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 each formed with its apex part formed asa spherical surface can be uniformly pressurized, and favorablesealability can be obtained in the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and20 of the valve disk 3.

Also, with the seal surface 13 formed by the arc surface 12 in thevicinity of the fully-closing position of the valve disk on the body 2side, uniform surface pressure can be applied to an outer peripheral end24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 3 within a range of this arcsurface 12. Thus, even if the closed position of the valve disk 3 isslightly shifted from a fully-closed position, where the valve disk isperpendicular to the flow path direction, if that shift is within arange where the arc surface 12 is formed, it does not affect sealabilityand stable sealability can be obtained.

While the range of a formation angle θ of this arc surface 12 ispreferably equal to larger than 10 percent (equal to or larger than 9degrees) with respect to the operation angle of the valve disk 3, if theformation angle θ is increased, the valve diameter of the seal surface13 formed on the arc surface 12 is narrowed to decrease a Cv value.Thus, the range is required to set in consideration of the allowablerange of the Cv value. Also, if an integral-type body is adopted as inthe present embodiment, it is required to consider also assembling thevalve disk by being inserted from a bore part of the flow path.

Next, the structure of the valve disk 3 is described in detail based onthe drawings. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the valve disk 3, FIG. 6is a half-sectional view of the front of the valve disk 3, FIG. 7 is aplan view of the valve disk 3, and FIG. 8 is a B-B sectional view ofFIG. 6.

The valve disk 3 is configured, as depicted in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG.8(a), by coating the outer periphery of a core metal 14 with an elasticmember 15. In this example, stainless steel is used for the core metal14, and EPDM (ethylene propylene diene rubber) is used for the elasticmember 15. Note that the valve disk 3 is not limited to a lining valvedisk having the surface of the core metal coated with the elastic memberin this manner, but may be, for example, one made entirely of metal. Inthat case, an elastic member for sealing or the like is provided on theseal surface on a body side. However, what is different is merely thatthe elastic member provided not on a valve disk side but on a body sideis crushed by pressure at the time of valve closing or the like, and theshape of the valve disk of the present invention allows a similar effectto be obtained.

On upper and lower parts of the valve disk 3, a top-side boss part 17and a bottom-side boss part 18 are formed. The top boss surface 19 ofthe top-side boss part 17 and the bottom boss surface 20 of thebottom-side boss part 18 are each formed in a spherical shape. Also, thetop-side boss part 17 is provided with an upper-stem insertion hole 22into which the upper stem 4 is inserted, and the bottom-side boss part18 is provided with a lower-stem insertion hole 23 into which the lowerstem 5 is inserted.

On the outer peripheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 3,an outer peripheral seal part 25 is formed of the elastic member 15. Asdepicted in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8(a), this outer peripheral seal part 25 isprovided with an M-shaped section part 29 formed by smoothly linking tworound-shaped apex parts 27, 27 and a round-shaped valley-bottom part 28.

In this manner, with the outer peripheral seal part 25 of the M-shapedsection part 29 provided to the valve disk outer peripheral end 24, twolinear seal parts by the apex pars 27, 27 are linearly formed inparallel with the entire perimeter of the valve disk outer peripheralend 24 at the time of valve closing. Of these, in particular, on thelinear seal part positioned on a primary side, the load of the fluidpressure concentrates, and thereby high seal surface pressure occurs.Thus, favorable sealability can be obtained.

Also, the two linear seal parts linearly formed in parallel of the twoapex parts 27, 27, of the M-shaped section part 29 are formed over theentire perimeter of the outer peripheral end 24 of the blade portion ofthe valve disk 3 equidistantly from the center O of the valve disk.Thus, at the fully-closed position, the outer peripheral end 24 of theblade portion of the valve disk 3 is pressured by the seal surface 13formed in an arc surface shape, and thereby a uniform surface pressureacts on the outer peripheral seal part 25 of the valve disk 3. Thus,favorable sealability can be obtained.

Furthermore, together with valve opening and closing, the outerperipheral seal part 25 of the valve disk 3 is repeatedly pressurizedand, in particular, the vicinity of the valley-bottom part 28 repeatedlyreceives compressive force. However, since the outer peripheral end ofthe outer peripheral seal part 25 takes the M-shaped section part 29with the round-shaped apex parts 27, 27 and the round-shapedvalley-bottom part 28 smoothly linked, the occurrence of stressconcentration can be suppressed. Thus, the occurrence of a startingpoint of rupture can be prevented, and durability of the outerperipheral seal part 25 can be improved.

Also, as depicted in FIG. 8(b), vicinities of the two linear apex parts27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 have roundness dimensionssubstantially equal to each other, and the roundness dimension of thevalley-bottom part 28 is formed in a range on the order of ½ to twice aslarge as the roundness dimensions in the vicinities of the apex parts27, 27.

In this manner, with the roundness dimensions of the apex parts 27, 27and the valley-bottom part 28 of the M-shaped section part 29 of theouter peripheral seal part 25 formed in a range so as to be close toeach other, stress occurring in the M-shaped section part 29 at thefully-closed position can be effectively dispersed. Thus, the occurrenceof stress concentration in the outer peripheral seal part 25 can besuppressed, and durability of the outer peripheral seal part 25 can beimproved.

Described further in detail below are effects of providing the M-shapedsection part 29 to the outer peripheral seal part 25 to configureparallel two linear seal parts in the above-described manner in thecentric butterfly valve of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically depicting how the surface pressure isapplied to the outer peripheral seal part 25 and a displacementdirection of the elastic member 15 of the outer peripheral seal part 25when the outer peripheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk3 is pressurized by the arc surface 12 at the fully-closed position, inwhich (a) depicts the case of an outer peripheral seal part, the outerperipheral seal part being in a conventional single convex structure,and (b) depicts the case of an outer peripheral seal part provided withan M-shaped section part.

In the case of the conventional valve disk having an outer peripheralseal part in a single convex structure depicted in (a), when the valvedisk 3 reaches the closed position, a portion of the elastic member 15protruding from the arc surface 12 of the body 2 is crushed by the arcsurface 12. Here, since the crushed elastic member 15 is pushedsubstantially as it is in a direction in which pressure is applied, asindicated by white arrows 31, the rubber moves in a chained manner fromthe outer peripheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 24toward a direction of the center of the valve disk 3. Also, since thesingle convex part is crushed, a substantially uniform surface pressureacts from the arc surface 12 of the body 2, as indicated by black arrows32.

By contrast, in the structure depicted in (b) with the outer peripheralseal part provided with the M-shaped section part 29, even when theelastic member 15 of the outer peripheral end of the blade portion ofthe valve disk 24 is crushed by the arc surface 12 with the valve disk 3being at the fully-closed position, a space 33 is present at thevalley-bottom part 28 between the two apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shapedsection part 29. Thus, in addition to a small movement amount of theelastic member 15 by the volume of the space 33, the elastic member 15can easily move to a direction of this space 33, as indicated by whitearrows 34, and thus the movement of the elastic member 15 to thedirection of the center of the valve disk 3 is suppressed. Also, whilethe apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 are crushedapproximately straight, the moving directions of other portions of theelastic member 15 tend to be dispersed, and thus the surface pressuretends to concentrate on the apex parts of the M-shaped section part 29,as indicated by black arrows 35. As a result, over the entire peripheryof the valve disk outer peripheral end 24, two linear seal parts areformed by the apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29. Thus,favorable sealability can be exerted at the time of valve closing.

Also, as described above, of these two linear seal parts, loads arefurther applied to the seal part positioned on an upstream side by thefluid pressure acting on the valve disk at the time of valve closing.Thus, the seal surface pressure is increased more to improvesealability.

As depicted in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, on the upper and lower parts of thevalve disk 3, a gap C is provided to the outer periphery of the upperstem 4 and the lower stem 5 to cover the elastic member 15. FIG. 10 isan enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2, depicting a state in which the gapC is provided on the outer periphery of the lower stem 5. While thisdrawing depicts a situation of the bottom-side boss part 18 of the valvedisk 3, the gap C is provided similarly also to the top-side boss part17 of the valve disk 3.

In this manner, the reason why the gap C is provided on the outerperiphery of each of the upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5 is to providea space to which the elastic member 15 covering the top and bottom bosssurfaces 19 and 20 of the valve disk 3 can escape (move) whenpressurized by the inner peripheral surface 11 of the body 2. In thecentric butterfly valve, when the valve disk 3 is attached inside thebody 2, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 of the valve disk 3are always pressurized by the inner peripheral surface 11 of the body 2.Thus, the elastic member 15 covering the top and bottom boss surfaces 19and 20 is crushed to cause an increase in surface pressure. Thisincrease in surface pressure increases open/close operation torque. Forthis reason, by providing the gap C on the outer periphery of each ofthe upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5, a space 38 is set to which thiscrushed portion (in FIG. 10, a portion where a hatched area indicating across section of the elastic member 15 and a hatched area indicating across section of the body 2 cross) 37 of the elastic member 15 canescape (move). If so, the crushed portion 37 of the elastic member 15can escape to this space 38, and thus the surface pressure of theelastic member 15 covering the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20does not become excessively high and an increase in open/close operationtorque can be suppressed.

Next, the overall shape of the valve disk 3 is described. As depicted inFIG. 6, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 configuring theoverall shape of the valve disk 3 and the apex parts 27, 27 of theM-shaped section part 29 are part of a spherical surface formed to havea substantially equal radius R2 from the center O of the valve disk 3,except the portions provided with the upper-stem insertion hole 22 andthe lower-stem insertion hole 23 and the portion of the space C providedon the outer periphery of each of the upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5.That is, the overall shape of the valve disk 3 is as if it issubstantially identical to a disc cut out from a sphere having theradius R2 by positioning the center of the sphere at its center.

Also, it is formed that a distance L from the center O of the valve disk3 to the valley-bottom part 28 of the M-shaped section part 29 issubstantially equal to the radius R1 of the seal surface 13 formed bythe arc surface 12 provided on the inner peripheral surface 11.Therefore, the radius of the valley-bottom part 28 of the M-shapedsection part 29 has a “zero-zero positional relation”, in which theradius is substantially equal to the radius of the seal surface 13configured in the flow path 6 of the body 2 by the arc surface 12.

Other than this, with the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 of thevalve disk 3 and the valley-bottom part 28 of the M-shaped section part29 being connected with mild tilted surfaces 39, 39, the occurrence ofstress concentration when the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 arepressurized by the arc surface 12 of the body 2 is prevented.

In this manner, with the radius of the seal surface 13 provided to thebody 2 being substantially equal to the radius of the valley-bottom part28 of the M-shaped section part 29 provided to the outer peripheral sealpart 25 of the valve disk, the movement amount of the elastic body 15 ofthe valley-bottom part 28 occurring by being pressurized by the sealsurface 13 at the time of valve closing can be minimized (or brought tozero). In addition, the portions of the apex parts 27 pressurized andcrushed by the seal surface 13 can be let escape to a direction of thisvalley-bottom part 28, thereby less affecting other portions, preventingexcessive stress from occurring in the outer peripheral seal part 25,and allowing suppression of an increase in open/close operation torqueof the valve.

In addition to this, as depicted in FIG. 7, an extended part 41 isprovided from the top boss surface 19 toward a blade portion 40 sideand, by this extended part 41, the top boss surface 19 and the apexparts 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the valve disk outerperipheral end 24 are smoothly connected. Similarly, the extended part41 is provided also from the bottom boss surface 20 toward the bladeportion 40 side to smoothly connect the bottom boss surface 20 and theapex parts 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the valve disk outerperipheral end 24.

Here, the shape of the extended part 41 is described in detail by takingthe top boss surface 19 side as an example, but the same goes for thebottom boss surface 20 side. The top boss surface 19 has a sphericalsurface provided around the upper-stem insertion hole 22. Since this topboss surface 19 is successively linked to the valve disk outerperipheral end 24, there is no clear boundary. Here, however, a circlehaving an outer perimeter including a portion of the top boss surface 19bulging from the thickness of the valve disk 3 is assumed, and aspherical part in an area inside this circle (an area limited to aportion indicated by a broken line in FIG. 7) is taken as the top bosssurface 19. The extended part 41 refers to a portion formed by extendingthe spherical surface of the top boss surface 19 over the area insidethis circle (broken-line portion) to the valve disk outer peripheral end24 side.

In an embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, the extended part 41 is formed tobe termination end parts that are the longest on a blade portion side atthe positions of the two apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part29 of the valve disk outer peripheral end 24 so that the width isgradually narrower toward each of these two termination end parts. Alsoin this embodiment, the two termination end parts of the extended part41 on the blade portion side are linked therebetween to form a shape asbeing smoothly rounded.

In this manner, by providing the extended part 41, the top and bottomboss surface 19 and 20 and the valve disk outer peripheral end 24 aresuccessively linked. Thus, at the fully-closed position, the elasticmember 15 covering from the top and bottom boss surface 19 and 20 to theapex parts 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the valve disk outerperipheral end 24 is uniformly crushed, and thereby a portion whichleads to leakage or the like hardly occurs and sealability around thestems is improved. If it is assumed that no extended part 41 is providedand the valve disk outer peripheral end 24 is directly linked to the topand bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19and 20 and the two apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 ofthe valve disk outer peripheral end 24 have the same height, but surfacesealing by the top boss surface 19 is abruptly switched to linearshealing by the two apex parts 27, 27 at a boundary portion with thevalve disk outer peripheral end 24, and thus the surface pressure ischanged at this boundary portion to possibly lead to leakage. Accordingto the extended part 41, surface sealing of the top and bottom bosssurfaces 19 and 20 is smoothly switched to linear sealing of the apexparts 27, 27. Thus, the sealing structure is not abruptly changed, andleakage at the boundary portion hardly occurs.

Furthermore, the extended part 41 also has a successive part 42 linkedfrom the outer periphery of the top boss surface 19 toward the apex part27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the blade portion of the valvedisk 40. This successive part 42 is provided so as to be graduallynarrower toward the apex part 27. According to this successive part 42,the top boss surface 19 is extended not only to an area interposedbetween the apex parts 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the bladeportion of the valve disk 40 but the top boss surface 19 is extended toa portion outside the area interposed between the apex parts 27. Also,similarly, the successive surface 42 is formed from a side part of thebottom-side boss part 18 to the apex part 27 of the M-shaped sectionpart 29 of the blade portion of the valve disk 40.

In this manner, by providing the successive surface 42, the top andbottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 are extended not only to the portioninterposed between the two apex parts 27, 27 of the outer peripheral endof the blade portion of the valve disk 24 but also to the outside ofthese. Thus, the sealing structure can be gradually changed from the topand bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 toward the outer peripheral end 24 ofthe blade portion of the valve disk 24. Thus, the occurrence of leakagebased on discontinuity of sealing at their boundary portions can be morereduced.

To describe the structure of the extended part 41 further in detail, aD-D line enlarged end face view of FIG. 7 and a E-E line enlarged endface view of FIG. 7 are depicted in (a) and (b) of FIG. 11,respectively. In FIG. 11(a), an upper part in the drawing is theextended part 41 extended from the spherical surface of the top bosssurface 19, and positions indicated by broken arrows 27 a are thepositions of the heights corresponding to the apex parts 27, 27 of theM-shaped section part 29. An area outside these apex parts 27, 27 in theextended part 41 corresponds to the successive surface 42. FIG. 11(b)depicts the structure of a portion formed by the extended part 41branched toward the two apex parts 27, 27 in the vicinity of the outerperipheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk. In this manner,in the line, the upper surface of the extended part 41 is also in asubstantially M shape, and portions indicated by the broken arrows 27 aare the positions of the heights corresponding to the apex parts 27, 27of the M-shaped section part 29. Also, the valley-bottom part 28 betweenthe two apex parts 27, 27 corresponds to the tilted surfaces 39, and anarea outside these apex parts 27, 27 in the extended part 41 correspondsto the successive surface 42.

Next, another embodiment of the centric butterfly valve of the presentinvention is described based on FIG. 12. The only difference betweenthis other embodiment and the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 isthe shape of the extended part smoothly connecting the top and bottomboss surfaces 19 and 20 of the valve disk 3 and the apex parts 27, 27 ofthe M-shaped section part 29 of the valve disk outer peripheral end 24,and the other portions are identical. Therefore, in the following, onlythis difference in the extended part is described.

Since the shape of the extended part connecting the top and bottom bosssurfaces 19 and 20 and the apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped sectionpart 29 of the valve disk outer peripheral end 24 is identical, FIG. 12depicts a plan view (a top boss surface side) of the valve disk fordescription. As depicted in FIG. 12, as for the top boss surface 19, anextended part 43 is provided from a valley-bottom part 28 side to theapex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the outerperipheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk 24 to extend thetop boss surface 19, but the top boss surface is not extended from aside surface side of the valve disk 3 to the apex parts 27, 27. That is,this embodiment does not have the successive surface 42 depicted in FIG.7 and FIG. 11.

In this manner, even if the extended part 43 is provided only one sideof the apex parts 27, 27, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 andthe apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the outerperipheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk 24 aresuccessively linked. Therefore, when pressurized by the seal surface 13,the elastic member 15 covering the valve disk 3 is uniformly crushedfrom the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 to the outer peripheralend of the blade portion of the valve disk 24, and thereby a portionwhich leads to leakage or the like hardly occurs and sealability aroundthe stem is improved.

The operating situation when the above-configured centric butterflyvalve closes and effects of providing the M-shaped section part 29 tothe outer peripheral seal part 25 of the valve disk 3 are described withthe drawings.

FIG. 13(a) to FIG. 13(c) depict a positional relation between the valvedisk 3 and the arc surface 12 (seal surface 13) provided to the flowpath 6 in the vicinity of the fully-closed position. The valve disk 3rotates to the fully-closed position in the order of (a), (b), and then(c). As depicted in the drawings, at the fully-closed position of theinner peripheral surface 11 of the body 2, the arc surface 12 is formedas the seal surface 13. As described above, the radius R1 taking thecenter O of the valve disk forming this arc surface 12 as a center andthe distance L from the center O of the valve disk 3 to thevalley-bottom part 28 of the M-shaped section part 29 are substantiallyequal.

FIG. 13(a) depicts a state in which the valve disk 3 has approached thefully-closed position. First, one side of the apex parts 27 of theM-shaped section part 29 makes contact with the arc surface 12 on theinner periphery of the body 2. With this contact, the apex part 27 onone side of the M-shaped section part 29 is crushed, and the elasticmember of this crushed portion is pushed out mainly to the valley-bottompart 28 of the M-shaped section part 29. Thus, the movement of theelastic member 15 covering the surface of the valve disk 3 is limited tothe vicinity of the outer peripheral end of the blade portion of thevalve disk 24, and displacement of the elastic member 15 as the wholevalve disk 3 is suppressed. Thus, an increase in surface pressure of theelastic member 15 is small, and the open/close operation torque hardlyincreases.

(b) depicts a state in which the valve disk 3 has further approached thefully-closed position, the state in which the entire outer peripheralend 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 24 is in contact with thearc surface 12 of the body 2, both of the apex parts 27, 27 of theM-shaped section part 29 are crushed by the arc surface 12, and thevalley-bottom part 28 is substantially in contact with the arc surface12. The elastic member 15 at the crushed portions of the apex parts 27,27 easily moves to the direction of the space 38 that is present betweenthe two apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped section part 29 to prevent thesurface pressure of the elastic member 15 of the M-shaped section part29 of the outer peripheral seal part 25 from excessively increasing,thereby allowing suppression of an increase in the open/close operationtorque.

(c) depicts a state in which the valve disk 3 has eventually reached thefully-closed position. The positional relation between the valve disk 3and the arc surface 12 is substantially the same as the case depicted in(b), because the radius R1 of the arc surface 12 and the distance Lbetween the valley-bottom part 28 and the center of the valve disk aresubstantially equal. Thus, as with the case depicted in (b), influenceson the other portions by the apex parts 27, 27 of the M-shaped sectionpart 29 being crushed by the arc surface 12 are small, and displacementof the elastic member 15 in the outer peripheral seal part 25 as a wholeis suppressed. Thus, an increase in surface pressure of the elasticmember 15 is small, and the open/close operation torque does notsignificantly increase.

In the conventional butterfly valve, there is a problem of an abruptincrease in operation torque immediately before valve closing. In thecentric butterfly valve of the present invention, with the M-shapedsection part 29 provided to the outer peripheral seal part 25, asdescribed above, an abrupt increase in open/close operation torqueimmediately before valve closing can be suppressed.

Also, with the seal surface 13 of the body 2 configured of the arcsurface 12, as can be found from (b) and (c) of FIG. 13, if the stopangle of the valve disk 3 when operated to the fully-closed position isnot vertical to the flow path 6 but as long as the valve disk 3 stops ina range of formation of the arc surface 12, stable sealability can beobtained.

As has been described in the foregoing, in the centric butterfly valveof the present invention, the seal part 13 of the arc surface 12 isprovided to the flow path 6 formed in the body 2, the outer peripheralseal part 25 including the M-shaped-section structural part 29 at theouter peripheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 3 isprovided, and the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 29 of the valvedisk 3 are configured to have a spherical shape. Thus, the outerperipheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk 3 ispressurized by the seal surface 13 at the time of valve closing from theentire circumferential direction with a uniform surface pressure, andthe pressure force concentrates on the apex parts 27, 27 of theM-shaped-section structural part 29 to form two parallel linear sealsurfaces. Thus, favorable sealability can be obtained.

In addition to this, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 aresuccessively and slightly extended to the blade portion 40 side toprovide the extended part 41 which smoothly connects the apex parts 27of the M-shaped section part 29 of the outer peripheral seal part 25.Thus, the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 and the outerperipheral end 24 of the blade portion of the valve disk aresuccessively linked. At the time of valve closing, the elastic member 15covering the valve disk 3 from the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and20 to the outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk 24is uniformly crushed to cause a seal part to occur seamlessly. Thus,sealability around the stems can be improved.

Also, with the gap C not covering the elastic member 15 provided on theouter periphery of each of the upper stem 4 and the lower stem 5 of thevalve disk 3, is provided, to which the crushed portion of the elasticmember 15 occurring as the top and bottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 arepressurized when the valve disk 3 is attached to the body 2 can escapeand obtain, and the outer peripheral seal part 25 is configured so thatthe crushed portion of the elastic member 15 of the apex parts 27, 27 ofthe M-shaped-section structural part 29 pressurized by the seal surface13 at the time of valve closing can escape to the space 33 of thevalley-bottom part 28, thereby preventing excessive stress fromoccurring in the elastic member 15 of the outer peripheral seal part 25and allowing suppression of an increase in open/close operation torque.

Furthermore, with the roundness dimensions of the apex parts 27, 27 andthe valley-bottom part 28 of the M-shaped section part 29 of the outerperipheral seal part 25 formed in a range so as to be close to eachother, stress occurring in the M-shaped section part at the time ofvalve closing can be effectively dispersed. Also, with the top andbottom boss surfaces 19 and 20 and the valley-bottom part 28 of theM-shaped section part 29 of the outer peripheral seal part 25 linked bythe mild tilted surfaces 39, 39 and with the side parts of the top-sideand bottom-side boss parts 17 and 18 to the apex parts 27 of theM-shaped section part 29 of the blade portion of the valve disk 40linked by the successive surface 42, the occurrence of stressconcentration on the elastic member 15 of an outer peripheral seal part25 is suppressed, and durability of the outer peripheral seal part 25 isimproved.

In this manner, the centric butterfly valve of the present invention hasfavorable sealability and small open/close operation torque, and isexcellent in durability, and thus can be widely used in various scenes,such as water supply and drainage, air-conditioning facilities, andfactory processes.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   1 valve main body    -   2 body    -   3 valve disk    -   4 upper stem    -   5 lower stem    -   11 inner peripheral surface    -   12 arc surface    -   14 core metal    -   15 elastic member    -   19 top boss surface    -   20 bottom boss surface    -   24 outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk    -   25 outer peripheral seal part    -   27 apex part    -   28 valley-bottom part    -   29 M-shaped section part

The invention claimed is:
 1. A centric butterfly valve comprising: acylindrical valve body; a valve disk rotatably provided inside thecylindrical valve body via upper and lower stems, the valve disk havinga blade portion, top and bottom boss surfaces on upper and lower partsof the blade portion, and an outer peripheral seal part at an outerperipheral end of the blade portion, wherein the outer peripheral sealpart is an M-shaped section part having two linear round-shaped apexparts positioned on a primary side and a secondary side of the valvedisk, and a round-shaped valley-bottom part between and smoothly linkingthe apex parts, wherein, in a fully-closed state of the valve disk, thetwo linear apex parts are crushed and portions thereof move in adirection of a space of the at the valley-bottom part to form two linearseal parts by the apex parts, wherein an inner peripheral surface of thevalve body has a seal surface formed of an arc surface and, when theouter peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk makescontact with the arc surface of the body, the valley-bottom part of theM-shaped section part becomes in a state of being substantially incontact with the arc surface.
 2. The centric butterfly valve accordingto claim 1, wherein the two linear apex parts of the M-shaped sectionpart have roundness dimensions substantially equal to each other, andthe valley part has a roundness dimension in a range on order of ½ totwice as large as the roundness dimensions of the two linear apex parts.3. The centric butterfly valve according to claim 1, wherein the top andbottom boss surfaces and the apex parts of the M-shaped section partform part of a spherical surface having a substantially equal radiusfrom a center of the valve disk.
 4. The centric butterfly valveaccording to claim 3, wherein the top and bottom boss surfaces areformed to be spherical, and the valve disk is provided with an extendedportion obtained by successively extending the spherical surface of eachof the top and bottom boss surfaces to a blade portion side.
 5. Thecentric butterfly valve according to claim 4, wherein the top and bottomboss surfaces and the valley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part ofthe outer peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk aresmoothly linked by tilted surfaces.
 6. The centric butterfly valveaccording to claim 4, wherein the extended part has a shape that extendsmost to the blade portion side at a position of the apex part of theouter peripheral end of the blade portion of the valve disk and isgradually narrower in width toward the most extended position.
 7. Thecentric butterfly valve according to claim 1, wherein a distance of thevalley-bottom part of the M-shaped section part from a center of thevalve disk is substantially equal to a distance of an inner peripheralsurface of the valve body from the center of the valve disk.
 8. Thecentric butterfly valve according to claim 1, wherein an annular gap isprovided at an outer periphery of the stem on each of the top and bottomboss surfaces.
 9. The centric butterfly valve according to claim 5,wherein the extended part has a shape that extends most to the bladeportion side at a position of the apex part of the outer peripheral endof the blade portion of the valve disk and is gradually narrower inwidth toward the most extended position.